China, US Sign Partnership on Smoke-Free Workplaces

Their two leading health agencies agreed to launch the partnership Sept. 7 in Beijing. The partnership aims to bring attention to employers' role in addressing secondhand smoke risks.

Aug 17, 2012

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and China's Ministry of Health have signed agreed to launch the China-United States Partnership on Smoke-free Workplaces, the two agencies announced in a joint statement Aug. 17. The Xinhua news agency reported the agreement, and the HHS Office of Global Affairs posted the statement.

The statement says the partnership is a bilateral public-private partnership between health and business leaders to protect employees from secondhand smoke. The two agencies will hold a launch ceremony for the partnership on Sept. 7 in Beijing.

The statement cites a recent Ministry of Health report that tobacco kills more than one million people in China annually and also an estimate that it causes 443,000 deaths in the United States, including deaths resulting from secondhand smoke.